Dr. Wanda Peters
Deputy Associate Administrator, Research and Technology Mission Directorate
Dr. Wanda Peters serves as the deputy associate administrator for the Research and Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In this role, she helps lead the agency’s integrated efforts across aeronautics, space technology and communications, advancing research and technology to deliver breakthrough capabilities critical for the future of space exploration and aviation.
Prior to her current appointment, Peters served from 2020 to 2026 as the deputy associate administrator for programs in the NASA Science Mission Directorate, where she was responsible for overseeing and assessing a multibillion-dollar portfolio of numerous science missions.
Her leadership tenure also includes serving as the acting deputy center director at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland from September 2024 to February 2025, providing strategic direction to the center.
From 2016 to 2020, Peters was the deputy director for planning and business management in the Flight Projects Directorate at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In this capacity, she managed strategic planning, policy development, personnel, and programmatic oversight for a portfolio of approximately 80 flight missions.
A career member of the Senior Executive Service, Peters has professional expertise spanning program and project management, engineering, science, technology development, and business operations across both the federal government and private industry.
She began her journey at NASA as a support contractor before converting to the civil service in 2005. Before joining NASA, she served as a research scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory.
Peters is a senior executive fellow of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
Peters earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Catholic University of America; a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore; and a master’s degree in engineering and a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University. She is married and has two daughters.